Emily's Blessing

It has been a buys weekend at our house! Today we were able to bless our little angel at church and had Ricky's parents in town for the special occasion. It has been such an amazing day with lots of family and fun. Emily has been getting so much more interactive the last couple weeks and loves to smile for everyone. She is such a happy baby and we are so blessed to have her in our family. We are so thankful for this time of year that we have to show our thanks and appreciation for all that we have. Sorry for the picture overload, we're a little obsessed with this girl.

Grandma

I've been trying to catch up on some of the recent events at our house. Things have been a little hectic for the last couple months and are finally starting to settle down a little. But two weekends ago we traveled to Salt Lake and Rexburg for my Grandma's funeral. Ricky and I had the privilege to live with her in Rexburg for the first 2 1/2 years of our marriage. She was truly a great lady and I feel so blessed to have had her as a role model. She turned 90 years old at the end of March and had been a widow for 23 years. Every birthday she would tell me that she just wanted to be back with my grandpa. Although I'm sure the reunion on the other side was such a happy one, Carmen Garner is terribly missed here. She was in excellent health her whole life until about a month ago. She kind of just ran out of gas. And even in those final weeks when she was surely in pain and waiting to go she always remarked what a beautiful day it had been. She was the most pleasant and optimistic person even in her final hour. I am so grateful to know that we will be reunited again. I can't imagine what a more painful event her death would have been without the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful to have a testimony of its truthfulness. 

Say Cheeese!

I think it's safe to say Jace has figured out what the camera is all about. I don't know how kids learn to fake smile, but it cracks me up! I mean, seriously, that is the scariest smile I've ever seen. Haha! I couldn't resist sharing these funnies. This kid is always good for a laugh!

Pumpkin Time

For the last four months Ricky has been working Saturdays... serious bummer. However, he did have Thursdays off, which turned out to be kind of nice because we were able to get out and do some of the fun activities we would have otherwise, but with no crowd. So last Thursday we went to the Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch. It was so much fun. I'm not going to lie, I have been looking forward to this for months! Fall has always been my favorite season and with all the 80 degree weather around here I've been grasping at whatever kind of Fall I can get. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about a prolonged summer here (after all I've been wanting this for like the last 7 years-aka the whole time I lived in Rexburg). 

We had so much fun wandering around and picking out our pumpkins and doing the different activities. Jace got to feed the chickens, and I mean chickens. He refused to feed the rooster. I have no idea why but he was sincerely angry when the rooster tried to take the food from his hand. Then we naturally took advantage of the sweets at the shop. We came away with 1 1/2 pounds of fudge (it didn't even last a week), and some gummy worms. We are getting pumped for Halloween tomorrow!

Emily: 2 months

Boy do I love that little smile! What is it about baby smiles that can just melt your heart? The last two months have literally flown by! Jace is in serious need of some recent photos and I need to get on top of that ASAP, so stay tuned. We are just loving this newest addition to our family. I don't know how I ended up with two such amazing kids, but Ricky and I feel so blessed to have them everyday. For more photos from Emmy's 2 month sesh visit my photo blog here.

Announcing Emily Packard

I've taken a little break from the blog the last several months and I think it's about time to update. We've had a lot of changes in our family in 2012 and are finally happy to have things settle down a little. But most importantly we have added another member to the team! Emily Packard was born on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 1:47 pm. She was a healthy 8lbs 6oz and 18 in long. Our little princess weighed almost 1 whole pound more than Jace! She is a good eater and good sleeper. I don't think a mom could ask for anything more! She has been an angel!

Emily was 6 days early and I couldn't have been happier about it! I had been having contractions here and there for about 2 weeks before this princess decided to make her big debut. Early one Monday morning I woke up having contractions pretty consistently and waited for about an hour before deciding that they weren't getting any closer or any more intense and went back to bed. After that my patience was gone! I was sure she was on the way and the waiting game was killing me. My brother Drew and his awesome wife Cami came in to town that weekend for the wedding of a family friend and they wanted to meet Emily before they had to leave on Tuesday, and I was more than willing to oblige. Ha! Unfortunately Cami had to leave on Monday for work and didn't get to meet our little girl. Drew was able to stay an extra day, however, and while Ricky was at work that day Drew and Jace and I did everything we could think of to speed up Emily's arrival. We went on a walk up the huge hill by our house with one foot on the curb and one foot off (suggested by Cami), we had Indian food for dinner, I ran the stairs a few times, and on and on. I really don't know if any of that is to thank for her speedy arrival, but I woke up about 1:30 Tuesday morning having lots of contractions and we headed to the hospital about 3:30ish. It took a little longer than I anticipated given that once I got to 4cm with Jace he arrived about an hour later. Emily took her time though. I didn't start pushing till about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon, but that part was quick! She made her first appearance at 1:47 on Tuesday, August 21. I should also mention that we hadn't decided for sure on the name Emily until we saw her sweet little face. Ricky had a sister named Emily who passed away as an infant and we feel so blessed to now have our own Emily Packard.

We are all doing great and adjusting a little more every day to being a family of four. Jace loves giving Emily kisses while she's sleeping in her swing and helping her with her pacifier when she's upset. The biggest challenge so far has been figuring out how to split my time between 2 kids, but Jace has been very gracious and patient with me as I learn. We feel so blessed to have 2 such amazing babies. It's hard to imagine my world without them. 

*For more photos from Emily's newborn shoot click HERE to visit my photo blog.

Spring Fever

Well it has been almost three years since Ricky and I were married in the San Diego, CA temple. Before our wedding we were able to spend 2 weeks just enjoying the beautiful San Diego sun! Every March/April since then we have been able to go back for about a week and just soak it all up. So naturally it is February and I'm tired of winter and wishing for a So Cal getaway. It is all I can think about! I am physically aching to go! This summer I am going to be prego, so instead of normal swimsuit shopping I have been doing a little maternity swimwear shopping (online naturally). Why is it so hard to find cute maternity stuff?! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I want to look frumpy! Hello!! I have come across a couple cute suits, but seriously, why do they have to be so dang expensive?!

This is my favorite one so far. It is really the only one that I would actually think about wearing. 

Jace is also just getting so big! He's walking everywhere now and really learning to assert himself, which is fun (most of the time). He LOVES animals, especially fish and other sea creatures. I have been dreaming of taking him to Sea World! When I'm bored, I seriously just daydream about our trip to San Diego and all the fun we're going to have.

Ok, we really aren't sure we are going to be able to go this spring, but I can dream! Right?

My valentine

It looks like it's time for Valentine's Day again. At our house December - May is gift giving season. With all our birthdays in the mix, Christmas, Valentine's, and anniversary we are almost gifted out. So this year we are trying to be a little more creative for Valentine's Day. I just finished my gift for Ricky and I'm so excited about it! I don't know if I can't wait another week! In an attempt to try and get my creative juices flowing I decided to browse Pintrest for some good ideas. Thankfully I found several. There was one I found through Google after I decided that I wanted to make some cute coupons. I started running out of coupon ideas and found the perfect thing at http://extraordinarybree.blogspot.com/2011/02/anything-card.html. It was for the "anything card". It is fully transferable and stealable. Which means that once it is redeemed the giver becomes the receiver. And it can be stolen so it makes for a fun little game. I am so excited to see how this turns out.

Front

Back

1 Year Old!

Our little Jace baby turned one last Sunday! It is so hard to believe how big he is getting. We just had a small little celebration Sunday after church. It would have been fun to throw a party but our family celebration was just right this year. Jace got to open a few gifts and go crazy with his cupcake. Right now he loves books, getting into cupboards and playing with mom and dad. We're still working on walking, but getting closer every day. He loves to walk everywhere as long as he's holding someone's hand. Any day now he'll find the confidence to just do it on his own. But we're really not in too big of a hurry still. I don't know if I have the energy to chase him around all day!

My mom sent Jace a cute package with some party decorations and a few cute gifts. But we're convinced his favorite thing was the balloon. He gets all tangled up in the ribbon and scoots around with the balloon following him. It is the funniest thing to watch!

A few new books and we're good to go! He was thrilled!

He had cupcake on his socks, in his hair, up his nose it was sheer madness! We recorded the hilarity, but the video was kind of long. So here is the final product. He went at that cupcake with both hands and didn't stop till all the frosting was gone!

Round 2

Yep. That's right. We're ready for round 2! Jace is turning 1 on Sunday!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! So, we decided that Jace needed a friend :) And we missed having a little one around. These two will be almost exactly 20 months apart. That is actually the same age span as my brother Drew and I. I loved having that friendship with my brother because we were so close (even though yes...we did fight during our teenage years). I know it may be hard to believe that Drew and I could ever fight (ha!) but it wasn't nearly as bad as our younger siblings would have you believe.

So our little peanut is 9 weeks old now and is due to arrive on August 27, 2012. Now we just need to figure out where we're going to be living!! San Diego?? (I wish!) We'll definitely keep everyone posted on that one... soon hopefully

Always on the Move

True to form this post is coming somewhat delayed. Our family has had a busy couple of months and it is time to catch up! On December 17, 2011 my amazing husband, Ricky graduated from BYU-Idaho. He graduated with a BS in Political Science, minor in Russian. We are so proud of all his hard work!

Then... We were able to go visit the Packard's in Ellensburg, WA. It was so great to be able to see family and let Jace spend some time with his cousin Henry. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family!

Then... We flew down to Mesa, AZ for a wedding! My brother Drew was luck enough to find the most amazing girl and was sealed to Cami Hatch in the Mesa Temple for eternity! We're so glad to have her in our family!!

Jace got a little too excited about the chocolate in front of him and ate my mustache!!

Finally on January 3, 2012 our little family moved to Denver, CO! We are so excited to be here for Ricky's internship. Right now he is working for the Honorary Russian Consulate here in downtown Denver. We are all learning so much and are so excited for the chance to get to know a new place. It has been so tough to leave Rexburg (even though no one ever thought we would admit it)! Unfortunately we are only here until the middle of March and don't really know anyone. So we have been going on a lot of walks and exploring the city together. And we can't wait to figure out what the Lord has in store for us next.

On the left is a pic of our apartment building. We are lucky enough to live right downtown and right above the 16th street mall! These are a few of the things our apartment overlooks.

Our funny man

It's hard to believe that Jace is 8 months old. I have heard that 7 and 8 months are the real turning point. That's when babies start crawling and getting their teeth and on and on. But I didn't really know what to expect until this last month. It is so true! I thought it would be so fun to watch our little man really start to move around. And it has been. But we honestly have to be watching him all the time! And I can't help but miss our tiny little baby that we brought home from the hospital that would just fall asleep on my chest. Don't get me wrong though. We are loving every minute of this adventure. Jace always keeps us laughing. I thought I'd post just a few of the funny moments we caught on camera this month. 

Jace loved my Parent's dog Baxter! We're just not sure the feeling was mutual.
And he thinks he is such a big boy now that he can crawl he thinks he can do anything! Ahh!

Eternal Perspective

I have been thinking a lot about my wonderful family lately and I just had to post about it. Ricky's grandma and grandpa Hartley passed away recently. Grandpa Hartley passed away due to cancer in May and grandma Hartley this past week due to poor health and a broken heart. It has been hard on the family but we can all honestly say that we know they will be happier where they are now, and now that they are reunited. I have been thinking so much about how grateful I am to know that we will be able to see them again. They were such wonderful people and such great examples to everyone they knew. I feel so blessed to have been married to my best friend in the San Diego Temple and know that  my family can be together forever. 

It's Gotta Go!

Last year when I graduated from BYU-I I got a new camera to kick start my photography business. Therefore, my old camera has been hanging around. I've tried to sell it on the school bulletin board but haven't really gotten serious about it until now. This time I mean business. It's time this thing found the hands of someone that can put it to better use. It is in great condition and comes with all the equiptment needed to jump start anyone looking to get into photography.

I'm selling my Tamarack camera bag, along with my Nikon D100, a 85mm portrait lens, 2 batteries and charger, extra battery pack, and 2 256mb memory cards for $400.

Another Needs Family Adventure

Ricky and I took a trip to Michigan for a while to see my family. It was a blast! Everyone but Devin was there. Drew and Cami and my Dad's parents were all able to be there for about a week and a half. Michigan isn't a very exciting place, except for the presence of my family (and sometimes that's debatable -- just kidding guys!). So one day we decided to head to Sandusky, OH to Cedar Point. An amusement park well known for it's over the top roller coasters. It was an adventure to say the least!

Check out Jace's new shades!

Grandma and Grandpa even came along for the ride
even though Grandpa wasn't feeling so hot.